Art of Writing Retreat, July 9-13, 2023
Drilling Down on Writing
All sessions are to be conducted at Palazzo San Niccolò.
Retreat July 9-13, 2023
Full 4 Day + 2 Night Workshop
COST: 1,300 Euro
Included in price:
All tuition and Zoom lectures.
Welcome drinks and opening dinner.
Morning cappuccino break.
Final light dinner and wine at Palazzo San Niccolò.
All wine during our evening special Aperitivo Zoom hours.
Please note this retreat does not include accommodation.
The program is subject to change a little as 2023 takes shape for our literary agents, guest authors and editors
Sunday, July 9th
1830:
Aperitvo at Palazzo San Niccolò. Welcome!
1930:
Welcome Dinner to meet your fellow writers. Introduction to Lisa Clifford, you, your work and the week ahead. Opening dinner together at a nearby restaurant included.
Monday, July 10th
9:30 – 11:00
Turn the Page
THE ESSENTIALS OF STORY in-person with Lisa Clifford. Tenacity and curiosity are the keys, but technique is vital. A lively lecture, on emotional urgency in our text. Designed to bring your writing to life. Now, more than ever, writers must hook their readers in their first five pages. Even their first sentence! You’ll never leap out of the slush pile unless we nail down how to create and maintain narrative momentum with your work.
11:00 – 11:30
Morning break, cappuccino and caffe.
11:30-1300
How to make your characters sing from the page with guest tutor, Bernadette Foley from Broadcast Books.
This is the fun part! Character foundation looks at the meat and bones of your character. How and why they are who they are. Understanding your protagonist is imperative. Any tiny reaction or response that is OOC (Out of Character) undermines your entire story. Whether you are nutting out a new character, cultivating an existing one or editing your final manuscript this class is the lynchpin to a good book because character is key.
13:00-15:00
Private writing time.
Tuesday, July 11th
09:30-1100
Sense of Place in-person with Lisa Clifford: This session starts in the ‘classroom’ and then becomes a walk. Learn how to add authenticity to your settings and characters, create atmospheres and articulate descriptions that show, not just tell, your reader’s location through its sounds, touch, smells and tastes.
11:00 - 11:30
Morning cappuccino break
Sense of Place continued:
Take your character for a walk-through Florence with Lisa Clifford. What is your character thinking, feeling, and seeing? Our Sense of Place trail starts from Palazzo San Niccolò and finishes at the San Ambrogio Food Markets. Lunch at our own expense around San Ambrogio.
Private writing time
Wednesday, July 12th
09:30-1100
The Art of Memoir, in-person with Lisa Clifford.
Learn how to collect, collate and recount your own story. Using examples from Lisa’s best-selling memoir The Promise, explore how to focus on the story without digressing. What have you overcome? How has your life changed you? Every memoir has a distinct arc. What’s yours? What to leave in or cut? How to transform fragments of memories into great chapters.
11:00 – 11:30
Morning cappuccino provided.
11:30-13:00
Bernadette Foley from Broadcast Books: Plot by Zoom.
How do you construct a compelling plotline? Are you digressing or staying on track and how do you know? Sometimes it’s difficult to know whether to plot first or wing it as you write. This class helps you understand the importance of charting your story from beginning to end, while leaving room for creativity, inspiration and ideas as you write. Should I write a full-length outline before my draft? And what would that look like?
1800 (1700 UK time)
Literary aperitivo
Wine time with an agent chat.
Just waiting on confirmation but am talking to some super exciting agents who are taking submissions. A fantastic opportunity to ask a literary agent anything you’ve ever wanted to know. Also, a wonderful opportunity to bring your work to the attention of a reputable, trustworthy agent.
Private writing time.
Thursday, July 13th
9:30 - 11:00
The Art of Balancing Backstory:
Laurel Cohn shows us how to resist the temptation of using a slab of backstory rather than artfully placing our character's history throughout our story. The how, when, where and why to including past in our text.
11:00 – 11:30
Morning cappuccino provided
11:30-1300
Pace: Lee Christine shows us how to work pace into our style. By Zoom, best-selling thriller crime writer Lee gives us techniques on when and how to bring in the action. This class is about the secrets of page-turners. Also, how to create realistic twists – and sow the seeds of these twists earlier in the plot.
13:00
Lunch break – Italian style
15:00
Afternoon writing time.
18:00
Conclusion and shared reading.
Let’s wrap up our time together with dinner –with antipasto - by reading something we’ve written over the past week. Gift your favourite piece to us, over a glass of wine.